THE CROATIAN PARLIAMENT
1665
Pursuant to Article 89 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia I hereby issue the
DECISION
PROMULGATING THE ACT ON THE TRADE CONTROL OF MILITARY GOODS AND NON-MILITARY LETHAL GOODS
I hereby promulagate the Act on the Trade Control of Military Goods and Non-Military
Lethal Goods, passed by the Croatian Parliament at its session on 21 June 2013.
Class: 011-01/13-01/156
File No: 71-05-03/1-13-2
Zagreb, 24 June 2013
The President
of the Republic of Croatia
Ivo Josipović,m.p.
ACT
ONTHE TRADE CONTROL OF MILITARY GOODS AND NON-MILITARY LETHAL GOODS
I GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
This Act shall regulate the trade control of military goods and non-military lethal goods including activities before, in the course and after the issuance of licences for export, temporary export, import, temporary import, the provision of services, transfer and transit of defence-related products within the European Union, as well as the competencies of state administration bodies in the implementation of this Act, the rights and obligations of exporters, importers, suppliers, service receivers and providers, the conditions for carrying out the activities required under this Act, administrative measures, violations and offences in cases of violation of individual provisions of this Act.
Harmonization with EU regulations
Article 2
This Act containes provisions that are in accordance with the following acts of the European Union:
1. Directive 2009/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 simplifying terms and conditions of defence-related products within the Community(OJ L 146, 10. 6. 2009);
2. Commision Directive 2012/47/EU of 14 december 2012 amending Directive 2009/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the list of defence-related products (OJ L 31, 31. 1. 2013);
3. Council CommonPosition2008/944/CFSPof 8 December 2008 defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment(OJ L 335, 13. 12. 2008);
4. Council CommonPosition2003/468/CFSP of 23 June 2003 on the control of arms brokering(OJ L 156, 25. 6. 2003);
5. CouncilJoint Action of 22 June 2000 concerning the control of technical assistance related to certain military end-uses (OJ L 159, 30. 6. 2000);
6. Joint list of defence-related products of the European Union including equipment from Council CommonPosition2008/944/CFSP(OJC 90, 27.03.2013);
7. Commission Recommendation of 11 January 2011 on the certification of defence undertakings under Article 9 of Directive 2009/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council simplifying terms and conditions of transfers of defence- related products within the Community(SL L 11, 15.1. 2011).
Article 3
Particular terms in the light of this Act shall have the following meaning:
1. »Trade control« shall mean export, temporary export, import, temporary import, service providing and transfer and transit within the European Union;
2. "Military goods" shall mean goods which are largely, but not exclusively, designed, made, assembled or modified for military use, including technology and software associated with these goods, and specified in the List of Military Goods;
3. „Non-military lethal goods" shall mean goods specified in the List on Non-military Lethal Goods for Commercial Purposes;
4. »Homogeneous products« shall mean the products of the same ML category, of the same title and purpose;
5. "Mark ML" shall mean a particular categoryof military goodsfrom the JointMilitary List ofthe European Unionstating categorieslabeled by marksML1toML22(acronym ML comesfrom the English wordMilitaryList);
6. "Export" shall mean regulated customs procedure applied to goods leaving the customs territory of the Republic of Croatia on permanent or temporary basis, including re-export of such goods. Export shall also mean the transmission of software and technology by electronic media, fax or telephone to a destination outside the Republic of Croatia, also referring to oral transmission of technology by telephone only where the technology is contained in a document the relevant part of which is read out by the telephone, or is described by the telephone in such a way as to achieve the same result; atransfer of defense-related productsfrom a supplierin the Republic ofCroatiato a recipientin another Member Stateof the European Union shall not be considered export;
7. "Exporter" shall mean a legal or natural person – a sole trader, resident in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, registered for trading business and entered in the Register of Exporters and Importers;
8. "Import" shall mean regulated customs procedure applied to goods entering the customs territory of the Republic of Croatia on permanent or temporary basis, including re-import; a transfer of defense-related productsfrom suppliersin oneEU Member Statetoa recipientin the Republic of Croatia shall not be considered import;
9. "Importer" shall mean a legal or natural person – a sole trader, resident in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, registered for trading business and entered in the Register of Exporters and Importers; Importer may be a natural person – a citizen when importing goods for own needs based on the approval for the procurement by the Ministry of the Interior;
10. "Licence" shall mean a special act issued by a competent authority upon a written request in compliance with this Act;
11. "Services" shall mean acquisition of benefits, transfer of rights and other business activities relating to military goods, including brokers’ services and technical assistance;
12. "Brokers’ services" shall mean negotiating or contracting deals involving the purchase, sale or procurement of military goods specified in the List of Military Goods referred to in Article 4 of this Act from one foreign state to any other foreign state; selling and purchasing military goods specified in the List of Military Goods referred to in Article 4 of this Act stored in one foreign state for transfer to another foreign state. Auxiliary services shall not be considered brokers’ services. Auxiliary services include transportation, financial services, insurance or reinsurance, and advertising or promotion;
13."Broker" shall mean a legal or natural person – a sole trader with residence in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, engaged in brokerage services;
14. "Technical assistance" shall mean any technical support related to repairs, development, manufacture, assembly, testing or maintenance of military goods and any other technical assistance related to military goods provided in the form of instruction, training, transmission of working knowledge, or skills or consulting services. Technical assistance shall include oral forms of assistance, written or oral instructions, training courses, transmission of working knowledge or skills, or consulting services;
15."Inthe public domain" shall meantechnology orcomputer programsavailablefor public usewithoutrestrictions on furtherdistribution;
16."Basic scientific research" shall mean experimentalortheoreticalresearches used toacquire newknowledge of thefundamental principles ofphenomenaorobservedfacts andwhich are notdirectly focused ona specificpurposeorpractical application;
17. »Defense-related products« shall mean all the products mentioned in the List of Defense-related Products defined by the European Commission;
18. »Transfer«shall mean any transfer or movement of defense-related products from a supplier in one EU Member State to a receiver in some other EU Member State;
19. »Receivingdefense-related products" shall mean an activity related to the transfer, which representsthe transferormovementof defense-relatedproductsfrom a supplierin oneEU Member Statetoa recipientin another Member Stateof the European Union;
20. »Supplier«shall mean a legal or natural person – a sole trader with the seat within the European Union who is legally responsible for transfer;
21. »Receiver«shall mean a legal or natural person – a sole trader with the seat within the European Union who is legally responsible for the reception of the defense-related products;
22. »Licence totransfer« shall mean a licence that the competent authority issues to a supplierin the Republic ofCroatia for transfer of defense-relatedproductsto a recipientin another Member Stateof the European Union, or to the recipient inthe Republic of Croatiainthe event of transferof defense-relatedproducts from another Member Stateof the European Union;
23. »General license to transfer« shall mean a license by which to suppliers andrecipients with the seat in the teritory of the Republic of Croatia, which meetthe requirements specifiedin the licence, is approved the transfer of defense-related products listedin the licence, to recipientsorfrom suppliers located inanother Member Stateof the European Union;
24.»Global license to transfer« shall mean a license to transfer defense-related productsto recipientsin one or moreEU Member States,as well aslicencefor the transfer ofdefense-related productsfrom suppliersin one ormore Member Statesof the European Union;
25. »Individual transfer license« shall mean a licenseauthorizingthe transfer of specifiedquantity ofdefense-relatedproductsin one or moreshipments, to a recipientin anotherEU Member Stateorfrom one supplierinanother Member Stateof the European Union;
26. »Transit within the European Union« shall mean the transportof defense-relatedproducts throughone ormore Member Statesof the European Union, anon-Member State of defense-relatedproductoriginor Member State of the recipient.
Article 4
The Government of the Republic of Croatia (hereinafter referred to as: the Government) will, at the proposal of the ministry responsible for the field of the economy (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry) adopt the List of Military Goods harmonized with the Common Military List of the European Union, as well as a List of Non-Military goods for commercial purposes.
IICOMPETENCY TO ACT
Article 5
(1) The export and import of goods and the provision of services referred to in Article 3, item 11 of this Act, as well as transfer of defense-related products among the EU Member States shall be carried out on the basis of licences.
(2) Licenses for exportand import of goods, provision of servicesandtransfer of defense-relatedproductsamong the Member Statesof the European Union shall issue the Ministrybased onthe consentof the Commissionfor approval toexport andimport of militarygoods and non-militarylethal goods, transfer of defense-relatedproductsand provision of servicesfor military goods(hereinafter referred to asthe Commission). The Commission shall consist of the representatives ofthe ministries responsiblefordefense, internalaffairs, foreign affairs, customs and the economy.
(3) The approval referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall be based on a consensus of all members of the Commission. Should one of the Commission members be absent, the right to vote shall pass to a deputy member.
(4) Each member of the Commission or deputy member is responsible for the activities from the scope of the ministry he/she represents.
(5) Should some members of the Commission be unable to give their approval for a requested export within 15 days of the meeting of the Commission without deciding to reject the request, the Minister responsible for the economy (hereinafter referred to as the Minister) shall ask the responsible ministers to give their written statement on the request.
(6) The Commission referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall be appointed and relieved of duty by the Minister at the proposal of ministers responsible for defence, internal affairs, foreign affairs, customs and the economy, and shall consist of one member and a deputy member from each of the relevant ministries. The Commission’s president, as well as his deputy shall be the member from the Ministry.
(7) The Commission shall pass the Rules of Procedure.
Article 6
Exceptional to Article 5, paragraph 2 of this Act:
– import licences for the needs of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia and the police shall be issued by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior, respectively.
– export licences for the needs of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia and the police, issued on the understanding that the exported goods will be returned to the Republic of Croatia, shall be issued by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior, respectively.
– export licences involving donations by the Government shall be issued by the Ministry of Defence or the Ministry of the Interior in the case of goods within the responsibility of either of the Ministries.
– export licences based on international military agreements where the Republic of Croatia is one of the signatories shall be issued by the Ministry of Defence.
Article 7
(1) The Ministry shall issue an export or import licence for every single export or importwith a validity period of up to one year without the possibility of renewal.
(2) By way of derogation from paragraph 1 of this Article, the Ministry may issue a single export or import licence for a period longer than a year, but not longer than three years, in the case of temporary export or import of goods whose overhaul or repair require a period longer then a year.
(3) The format and content of the licences referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be prescribed by the Minister.
Article 8
(1) By way of derogation from Article 7 paragraph 1 of this Act, the Ministry may issue a global export licence for the export of homogenous military goods for one or more states, taking into account the type of goods, the type and duration of export affairs of the state to which the goods are exported.
(2) Globalexport license may only be issuedfor the export ofarmoured or protectiveequipment, constructionsand componentsreferred to inML13categoryof the List of Military goods referred to in Article 4of this Act, for the purposes oftender, test, exhibition orpresentation,with a validityof up to one yearandcan not beextended.
(3) The format and content of the licence referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be prescribed by the Minister.
Article 9
(1) At therequest of the importer, based on a writtenstatement onthe end userand thepurpose of the import of goods, besides theimport licensethe end user certificate shall be issued by theMinistry.
(2) If theimporteris differentfrom the end user, in addition to the mentioned in paragraph 1ofthis Article, it shall be necessary to submit astatement of the enduseraboutthe type, quantityand purpose of thegoods.
(3) End-user certificatesfor theimport ofgoods forthe Armed Forcesof the Republic of Croatia and policeshall be issuedby the Ministry responsiblefor defenseor the ministry responsiblefor internal affairs.
(4) The format and content of the licences referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be prescribed by the Minister.
Article 10
(1) Exportand import of goodsunder thisAct maybe performed by legaland natural persons–sole tradesmen(hereinafter referred to as: persons) registered for trade in goodsandentered inthe Register of Exportersand Importersof military goods andnon-militarylethal goods(hereinafter referred to as: the Register).
(2) By way of derogation of paragraph 1 of this Article, natural person – a citizen may for his own purposes, without registration in the Register, import goods for which the ministry responsible for internal affairs has issued an approval for acquisition of weapons.
(3) Natural person -the citizenshall notbe allowed to exportmilitary goods andnon-militarylethal goods.
(4) Domestic and foreign naturalpersons - citizenswhotemporarilycome to the Republic of Croatia, or temporarilygo abroadmay temporarilyenterortemporarilycarry outthe goodsthey needduring a temporary stayin the Republic ofCroatiaorabroad inaccordance with this Act, the Customsand other regulations, international conventions and treaties.
(5) Goods referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article may be used only for purposes for which it was temporarily entered or carried out.
(6) Prior to starting an export or import activity, the persons referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall apply for entry in the Register referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.
(7) The Register referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be kept by the Ministry.
(8) The content and way of keeping the Register referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be prescribed by the Minister through a special regulation.
Article 11
(1) Entry in the Register referred to in Article 10 paragraph 1 of this Act shall be made on the basis of a written application, certified by the seal and signature of the responsible person of the legal or natural person – craft trade.
(2) The applicant referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall attach to the application the following documentation:
– a copy of the certificate issued by the Ministry responsible for internal affairs approving activities for the production/trade of weapons and ammunition or explosives;
– copy of the decisionof the competent authorityonthe registeredactivity of trade;
- personal identification number of the person referred to in Article 10 paragraph 1 of this Act;
- a certificate not older than six months issued by the competent authority confirming that the legal or the responsible person of the legal or natural person – a sole trader is not under investigation for illegal dealing with military goods or non-military lethal goods referred to in Article 84 and 85 of this Act;
- the name of the bank and the document certified by the applicant's bank (copies of the last balance sheet, profit and loss account, confirmation that the person's account is not blocked for the past six months, a copy of the card of deposited signatures);
- declaration on the number and structure of personnel;
– declaration by which the responsible person in the legal or natural person – a sole trader, pledging that the competent inspection authority will be allowed to inspect records of export and import transactions as well as control of the storage premises and transport means;
(3) It shall not be necessary to submit a copy ofthe decision referredto in paragraph 2subparagraph 1 of this Article if a person submits a declarationthat will not be engaged inthe productionortrade in weaponsandexplosives;
(4) Based onthe submitted documentation referred to in paragraph 2 ofthis Article,the Ministry shallrequirefrom the ministryin charge of justiceverificationofcriminal recordsagainst the legal person, as well as theresponsible personin the legal or natural person–a sole traderhas not been chargednor hasreceived a final convictionforirregularitiesin the handling military goodsandnon-military lethalgoods referred to in Articlea84and 85of this Act.
(5) The Ministry shall issue a decision onregistration in the Registerreferred to in Article 10paragraph 1 of this Act.
(6) The decision referred toin paragraph 5 of this Articlemay not be appealed, but anadministrative dispute may be brought.
Article 12
The person entered in the Register referred to in Article 10 paragraph 1 of this Act shall report in writing on any changes of the information referred to in Article 11, paragraph 2 of this Act within 15 days of the change occurrence.
Article 13
(1) By its Decesion the Ministry shall reject the registration in the Register referred to in Article 10 paragraph 1 of this Act if:
– false information or false documenta have been submitted,
–during thepast 10years, the applicantbreached the legislationrelating totrade in military goods or non-military lethal goods,
– during the past 10 years the applicant breached the international sanctions,